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Look at your other thread. Before starting this engine I’d do a few nice things for it, starting with a few drops of oil in the plug holes and a hand crank-over.
I guess if you’ve been cranking it that’s moot.Did you douse your carb with gumout or similar? Cause it’s probably about as full of varnish as the tank was.Check Rob and Daves air cooled pages for helpful hints for working on vw , and good troubleshooting information.
Hey guys, this is from my earlier post in this thread:
I highly recommend not throwing the old lawnmower away without doing this first.“I have a small fuel tank off an old lawnmower that I use when starting an old engine. I know that I am getting good fuel to the carb.”The smaller the tank the better. Put a 3 or so foot piece of hose on the lawnmower tank, put new good gas in the tank and bungee it to the top of the engine or the engine compartment and go straight into the carb. (Don’t forget to plug off the VW fuel line.) And start engine. Eliminates all tanks, lines, filters, pumps etc. Gravity feed the carb.Royal wrote:Hey guys, this is from my earlier post in this thread:I highly recommend not throwing the old lawnmower away without doing this first.“I have a small fuel tank off an old lawnmower that I use when starting an old engine. I know that I am getting good fuel to the carb.”The smaller the tank the better. Put a 3 or so foot piece of hose on the lawnmower tank, put new good gas in the tank and bungee it to the top of the engine or the engine compartment and go straight into the carb. (Don’t forget to plug off the VW fuel line.) And start engine. Eliminates all tanks, lines, filters, pumps etc. Gravity feed the carb.Yep, and then once you’ve gotten the engine running, you can move it to the front, and troubleshoot the lines, filters, and fuel pump. I’m running mine off a lawnmower tank, now, while I wait on my gas tank to be modified… 🙂Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...I noticed that earlier someone suggested getting a new tank made if you have tank problems. While it is most likely that there is nothing wrong with the tank, here is how to renew an old tank:
Drain all fluid from tank, loosen tank and remove. Remove the sender. If there is “gunk” in the tank, use some carb cleaner fluid to dissolve (not the real nasty carb cleaner stuff that dissolves skin, stay away from that stuff). If there is any corrosion inside the tank, throw in a length of chain and shake the tanks until the corrosion is knocked off. Inspect for holes, pin holes don’t matter, but larger ones do. If the tank is steel, I usually solder the holes shut. Larger holes can be fixed by soldering a piece of copper. To get ready for soldering, I fill with water and drain. Plug the inlet and vent holes, if holes are threaded, get a matching plug from the hardware store. Tape up the sender hole. Get some tank liner, I prefer the stuff from Summit. Follow directions which you can download ahead of time. This stuff plugs all pinholes and provides a great liner to stop the alcohol damage. Make sure that you cover all surfaces really well by slowly tilting tank in all directions. I drain it overnight and wait a couple of days before use. Like new.Gabor’s right. It’ll work. I’ve done it a few times. If you have access to an old cement mixer, you can put the tank inside it, or tie it to the outside. Secure it so that the outside of the tank doesn’t get all beat up. Put gravel, (the type with sharp edges works best) in it and let it run. It’ll make the tank extra clean inside. You, of course, have to rinse the rock pieces out but that is easy. Then, finish inside. I’ve never used “the stuff from Summit” but have used POR 15 stuff made for tanks. It works great but is expensive. Maybe Summit’s stuff is better.
Considering I am somewhat new to this, I did crank the engine before changing the oil.
I made sure that the oil was up to level though. The motor turns
freely. If I’m understanding correctly. what you are all suggesting is
that I pre-feed a length of rubber line with gasoline and then put the
other end into small gas tank? Will the vacuum from the carb pull the
gas from the tank into the carb? Does it need to be a lawn mower tank
or will a small red gas can do? Sorry if these questions are making me
sound like a newbie. After all though, I am. LOLQuote:Look at your other thread. Before starting this engine I’d do a few nice
things for it, starting with a few drops of oil in the plug holes and a
hand crank-over.I guess if you’ve been cranking it that’s moot.Did you douse your carb with gumout or similar? Cause it’s probably about as full of varnish as the tank was.I didn’t do anything with the carb as of yet considering I couldn’t get gas to it. Are you suggesting to opened the butterfly and douse the throat?
Thanks for all the suggestions on cleaning the inside of the tank. As soon as I get the engine at least running, I will drill out the rivets and working on refinishing the tank and replacing all the soft lines.
BIGBAND392013-06-04 13:10:41
You may be suffering from the dread TOMAV syndrome. (Too much advice.) I like the lawnmower tank best because it has a small hose fitting on the BOTTOM and often a shutoff valve also. Using the lawnmower tank, if you mount it above the carb, then you can run a piece of rubber hose to hook up the lawnmower tank DIRECTLY into the gas inlet on the carb. It should fill the carb bowl by gravity. If it doesn
‘t, then you have to take the carb off and rebuild (or at least clean the bowl float valve).It is likely that the tiny internal passages in the carb are gummed up if the above doesn’t work. Ethanol is not our friend. You do not want to leave this stuff in your engine or tank very long. If you drive your car or at least run it every week or two, no problem. Longer, and (if you use ethanol) you are flirting with problems.Once you get her going, this will help you keep the engine purring:PMOSSBERG2013-06-04 14:03:32
LOL
You can never have too much advice. The only issue is with keeping track of it, acknowledging it was received, and letting people know that you appreciate it.
If I were to use a lawnmower tank (can I buy one of these are Harbor Freight or Tractor Supply) and gas was gravity fed into the bowl, wouldn’t it overflow the bowl from the pressure of the incoming gas?
BIGBAND392013-06-04 13:58:03
I like that, “TOMAV”
One piece of good news here…you likely have no ethanol issues. You wrote in the first post, the car sat for “over a decade.’ So it probably had no ethonal gas.There are really two issues being combined in this thread.Will the engine fire?And why is it not getting gas?You already turned it over. So we know it’s not seized. Grab that can of starter fluid. You can do this alone. Give a healthy spray, then crank the car. You don’t have to spray as you crank. All you are trying to determine is whether or not the engine will fire. When I was having fuel delivery issues, and diagnosing alone, my dual carb engine would run for a few seconds on the starter fluid.Fires? Good.Move on to figuring out why there’s no gas flow to the carb. Do the air through the lines test mentioned earlier. If all is clear, drop that new fuel pump in. It will create enough suction to pull gas through the lines. Or you could run a line from a gas can, into the inlet side of the pump.Doesn’t fire? Check for spark. You can do this on your own too (again, ask me how I know!). Pull a spark plug. Reconnect it to its plug wire. With a c-clamp or even a pair of vise grips, clamp it where it will ground and where you can still see it when you reach in to turn the key and crank.Scroll through this page for more trubleshooting tips:Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Here is the absolute best piece of advice I can give, with regard to troubleshooting, maintaining and rebuilding you VW:
Buy John Muir’s “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot”Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Johnathan. Don’t get mislead by the “Compleat Idiot” part of the title. Its an easy read, easy to follow and full of good information. AND…believe it or not, we all have a copy.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shacknewkitman wrote:Johnathan. Don’t get mislead by the “Compleat Idiot” part of the title. Its an easy read, easy to follow and full of good information. AND…believe it or not, we all have a copy. I’m actually on my third copy… ;);):-)My first, really grease-stained one, was handed down to one of my sons when he also inherited the ’64 steel sunroof bug that a lot of that grease came from… the only frame-off resto that I’ve ever done.My replacement copy was given as a gift to a nephew who got into rail-frame buggies… he also happens to be my welder, so I need to keep him happy!My current copy was ordered the night I brought my TDr home…
KentT2013-06-04 16:53:49
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Just read an article in HOT VW’s Mag about this pub and the guy that wrote it. Early copies are collector items now and supposed to be valuable (they didn’t say how valuable). Guess I better get me a copy.
SamHere’s the “stuff” the I used from Summit to line my brand new aluminum gas tank. It’s blue so you can tell where it has covered. I read that POR 15 is about the same formula but ten bucks more expensive.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-900056edsnova2013-06-04 19:55:50
It’s alive! 😮 What a $10 siphon pump from Harbor Freight can do! I used the pump to make sure the line was clear to the gas tank. A few pumps and it was bubbling away. Next I made sure the motor was good by pumping gas into the carb from a gas can. A few cranks later and she started right up! 😛 The motor seems to run well, but I believe it has an exhaust leak from somewhere as it seems to be abnormally loud. Has a regular tick to it, but doesn’t sound bad. Difficult to imagine cruising down the highway at 65mph and 3K rpm. When the fuel in the bowl ran dry, I filled it again and restarted the motor. I hooked up my connections to the pump and the tank in hopes that the pump would come back to life. It did, but started to leak badly. I took my Airtek pump out of the box and attempted to install it. Who designed the pump input and output??? They weren’t anywhere near where the originals were located. I didn’t see any possible way for the hoses to be attached and not severely kinked when bent. I pulled the pump, took the top off the old pump, cleaned it up and repositioned the gasket, reinstalled it, and now it is working fine. The entire system is pumping from the tank as it should and the motor runs surprisingly smooth. Once I can get it out of the garage and to my place, I plan to remove and refurbish the tank. I’ll also replace all soft lines, change the oil, change the filer, and give her some new plugs, rotor, cap, condenser, and points. Now onto getting the brakes to work properly! Thanks for the help everyone!
Great news!
But one more thing before you leave the engine compartment…ADJUST THOSE VALVES!
This is THE most critical VW engine maintenance item, bar none!
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
I can’t even figure out where the valve cover is on this thing yet. LOL Any advice with valve adjustment? Also trying to figure out if my engine has been converted to a full flow filter and, if so, where the filter would be located. I have already done some research about the draining of oil and replacement of factory filters.
BIGBAND392013-06-05 23:16:42For anyone new like myself and reading this thread, this video is awesome pertaining to valve adjustments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3MgWSXTwWQ
Still can’t find a picture or description of a full flow filter. 🙁
The VW oil pump resides behind the large crankshaft pulley on the center of the engine, down at the bottom. Should it have been converted to a full-flow filter, there’s about a 95 percent chance that you’ll find either a filter just to the left of that oil pump (where the cooling air exits the left side of the engine) or you’ll find oil lines from there running to a remote filter bolted somewhere else. This is the easiest way to convert one to a full-flow filter.Here’s a pic of a VW oil pump for a full-flow filter, remotely mounted under the left fender. ‘
And here’s a pic of an oil pump that the filter would screw directly onto. The filter screws onto the left side, and would be sticking out into that cooling air flow I mentioned, behind the pushrod tubes on the left side of the engine, visible only from below:
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Great explanation Kent!
bigband…go buy John Muir’s book (noted earlier in this thread)You’ll find your self referring to it over and over.Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
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